Thank you for reading! I don't own any of Harry Potter! Please let me know if you enjoy! Updates every Saturday!
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Tom continued to shock and terrify his peers with his uncanny aptitude for the Dark Arts and a real penchant for cruelty, although he rarely showed Harriet those sides of himself.
Whenever Tom and Harriet were together, they usually exchanged happy smiles, pleasant conversations…...and long moments of stolen kisses, during which he would whisper sweet nothings to his darling in his smooth, velvety voice.
Hogwarts' common rooms were forbidden to anyone outside of their dedicated houses, but that didn't stop Tom from sneaking Harriet through Slytherin's stone entrance.
While he couldn't bring her up to his dormitory, after one successful excursion, Tom discovered that he and Harriet could stealthily leave their beds at night and hide behind the heavy curtains in Slytherin's common area while they shared an hour of feverish kissing.
On the second evening, as they huddled there, behind the curtains late at night, Tom laid his hands on Harriet's waist as she draped her arms over his shoulders during their deep kiss.
From the rush of hormones her maturing body released, in addition to Harriet's figure developing, Tom had noticed that her lovely scent had become more beguiling……...
He took that as a sign his dreams would come true and Harriet would become an omega.
His omega.
"Tom……" Harriet whispered breathlessly against his lips while he nipped her sweetly as his hands rubbed gentle circles into her hips.
Hearing his name on Harriet's tongue made Tom shiver.
He pulled her tightly against him as he pressed his lips to hers in another painfully delicate and torturously slow kiss.
Tom knew that one day soon, they'd both present.
Then Harriet would build a nest and whisper his name again………
He would go to her there, take her into his arms, and make her scream his name, not whisper it in the night like a forbidden secret.
"You're mine~." Tom purred to Harriet. His usually smooth voice sounded deliciously husky as he lifted one hand and gently cupped her cheek.
Harriet sucked in a breath as Tom pulled back and let his fingers stroke her face as he stared down at her with his dark eyes glinting, "Mine…..Mine only. Mine forever. Isn't that right, Harriet Potter?"
"Yes, Tom." Harriet said with a loving smile as she leaned into his touch, "Yours, only."
Her heart pounded in her chest as her eyes flickered over Tom's handsome face and admired the thick, dark curls of hair that served as its frame.
Harriet Potter enjoyed breaking rules and with Tom, she felt more liberated than ever, wild and free.
The blush on her cheeks conveyed the sensations he elicited in her body with the mere touch of his lips, but Tom wasn't satisfied.
His dark eyes narrowed as he commanded, "Vow to me that I'm the only one you'll ever-"
A small, bright light suddenly appeared from the other side of the curtain.
Harriet and Tom glanced over to watch their privacy be ruined by one, sudden motion.
Tom scowled but Harriet's eyes widened as they saw Professor Snape standing there in his black robes with the tip of his wand glowing.
"...Sir……..we can explain." Tom said smoothly with a charismatic smile.
His charms were lost on Severus Snape.
Hogwarts' Potions Master saw too well the blush on Harriet's cheeks, the dazed looks on their faces, and the disheveled position of their clothing after they had pawed at each other for the last hour.
"Potter, Riddle……." Professor Snape ordered in his low drawl, "My office…...immediately."
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Moments later, Tom and Harriet stood in front of Professor Snape's desk as their foreboding teacher stared at them with his arms crossed and his heavy, black cloak draped around him like a bat's folded wings.
"You should be ashamed of yourselves!" Severus declared in one chastising hiss, "Sneaking out of bed at night to tryst with each other like wild dogs! I'd expect such lascivious behavior out of sixth year or seventh year students perhaps, but third?!...You're fortunate I don't nominate you both for expulsion!"
Harriet scowled at her least favorite teacher, but Tom refused to let emotion cloud his interaction with his Head of House.
"Forgive us, Professor Snape," Tom groveled with a frown of feigned remorse, "Miss Potter and I only wanted to spend more time together…...Our behavior has been inexcusable tonight, but we assure you, sir, our intentions were originally innocent."
"Innocent?!" Severus hissed through grit teeth.
Harriet frowned.
As she stared at the tense scowl of complete disapproval on Professor Snape's face, part of her expected to be put back on the Hogwarts Express as soon as dawn broke.
"There was hardly anything innocent about what I saw tonight, Mr. Riddle!" Severus glared, "Both of you will serve detention for the next month……..separately! Do you understand?"
"Yes, sir." Harriet scowled.
"Thank you, Professor!" Tom replied with an obedient nod as he breathed a sigh of relief as if Severus had just saved him from a terrible fate, "...For your mercy."
"Silence, Mr. Riddle!" Severus snapped, "Miss Potter, you will return to your bed this instant…...However…...let it be known that should I ever catch either of you in the compromising position I found you in tonight, I will….. not….hesitate…. to end your Hogwarts days…..do I make myself clear?"
"Yes, sir, of course." Tom nodded eagerly.
"Yes, sir." Harriet agreed.
Severus sent her on her way with a quick motion of his head.
Harriet left Professor Snape's office and made her way back to her dormitory in Gryffindor tower, but as she walked, she smiled.
She admired Tom's devious use of cunning.
His actions of false regret had helped them avoid potential expulsion, the deduction of house points, and even letters home to their families.
Harriet had expected a much worse punishment than detention from Professor Snape.
She marveled at how few people had the ability to resist Tom's charismatic ways.
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"Mr. Riddle...judging from your actions this evening….I assume you have ample time on your hands." Severus commented as he focused his dark stare on Tom, who had remained in his office after Harriet's departure.
"Yes, it would seem that way, Professor Snape." Tom nodded.
"Excellent…...For part of your penance, I'm assigning you an extra lesson to complete…..I'll dictate a formula to you….which you will then copy down before brewing the mixture flawlessly….Perform the task correctly and earn the right to sleep….Make a mistake, and I'll deduct one hundred house points from Slytherin." Severus glared.
Tom's charming smile disappeared as a serious look of determination clouded his face while he contemplated Professor Snape's challenge.
"...Very well, sir." Tom nodded bravely, "Will my task be Girding Potion or Shrinking Solution? I heard you mention we'll cover those soon in class."
"No, Mr. Riddle," Severus answered dryly as he pulled out his wand and began to assemble the items Tom would need for his work, "Tonight, you'll be brewing Contraceptive Potion."
Tom blinked.
"...Isn't that part of the seventh year potions curriculum, sir?" He asked blankly.
"It is, indeed." Severus drawled with a bored frown, "Your demonstrated knack for brewing leaves me little doubt that you'll be up to the task, Mr. Riddle…..After what I've witnessed tonight, I'm certain that this particular mixture will be useful for you to understand."
Tom wasn't especially pleased about Professor Snape's demands, but over the next two hours, he harnessed every shred of skill he possessed.
Slytherin lost no house points that evening.
Tom went to bed and slept with a proud grin on his face, while Severus frowned at the cauldron full of blue, viscous liquid.
In a single evening, Professor Snape had taught Tom Riddle how to successfully brew Contraceptive Potion.
Unfortunately, Tom saw little use in the concoction itself.
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Most students his age would have failed at Professor Snape's task, but Tom had been genuinely grateful for the extra lesson.
Tom Riddle was always eager to learn.
As the first of December arrived and Harriet spent a rainy Saturday on the Quidditch field practicing with Gryffindor's team, Tom let the hours drift by as he sat in the library.
Saturdays off from his job at the apothecary were rare.
Since he couldn't be with Harriet or earn money that day, Tom had dedicated himself to conducting some research.
While it was a popular pastime of rabble-rousers to creep into the Restricted Section, the topics that interested Tom that day were readily available in the more easily accessed portions of Hogwarts' book collection.
He sat with his stack of volumes while his mind hungrily consumed and retained the information their pages contained.
The titles of the books clearly read:
The Task of Caring for Magical Omegas
Women's Health and the Witch's Body
Love and Mating Between Magical Peoples
The Modern Witch and the Ancient Dilemma
Tom's dark eyes narrowed as he read over each passage with the sections outlined:
Heat Cycles
Menstruation
Sexual Pleasure
Emotional Processing
Mating and Bonding
Comfortable Nests for the Expectant Witch
Care and Comfort
He carefully studied each chart and diagram the books presented to his view.
Tom had decided that if he would become Harriet's mate, her lover, her husband……then he had a great deal to learn.
It made him anxious, the need to know everything he could about Harriet Potter, inside and out.
After dinner that evening, Tom returned to the library and during the hours before its closing, he found a new book to study:
The Art of Legilimency: Dangers, Applications, and Benefits
Tom's dark eyes narrowed again as he flipped through page after page and devoured the information displayed by the black print.
Young Tom Riddle found all of his reading material to be very interesting on that dismal Saturday.
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Two weeks later, the start of Hogwarts' winter recess brought with it the feeling of buzzing excitement.
"Will you and Tom share a compartment today? Or will Ron and I actually have a chance to chat with you?" Hermione asked her friend at breakfast that morning while Hogwarts' students prepared to leave the castle.
Ron smirked, but Harriet scowled.
"I talked to Tom about it." She quipped after she swallowed her mouthful of food, "He said he'd actually like us to ride with you two, if that's alright."
"It's more than alright, Harriet." Ron said with a glad smile.
On train trips to and from the castle, Ron and Hermione had seen less and less of their friend.
Tom usually insisted on keeping Harriet all to himself in a private compartment.
As the Hogwarts Express pulled through the snowy landscape that afternoon, Tom sat and held Harriet's hand while they chatted with Ron and Hermione in the compartment they shared.
Ron eventually left to chase the trolley for another Chocolate Frog while Hermione visited the lavatory.
Harriet looked over at Tom with a smile as she spoke, "Thanks for this…..I'd really like for you to get to know Ron and Hermione better."
"Of course, sweetling~." Tom purred as he raised Harriet's hand to his lips and pressed a delicate kiss against her knuckles.
The pleased look on her face made Tom want to growl in satisfaction.
His usual selfishness had been thrown aside for the day.
Harriet Potter would spend the entire winter recess with him and Merope.
She would live in his apartment, eat with him, talk with him, be at his side every waking second...
Tom's satisfaction had urged him to generously let her friends encroach on what would have otherwise been their private time.
Besides, Tom wanted Ron and Hermione to enjoy his company.
Tom Riddle understood the power of friendship fairly well.
He reasoned that if Harriet's friends endorsed him, that would further aid his quest……to obtain Harriet Potter's affection, heart, body, and soul.